A pharmaceutical company has withdrawn adverts linking children's dietary supplements and NAPLAN test results after just two days following a public backlash.

Television advertisements for Nature's Way Kids Smart Omega-3 Fish Oil supplements first aired on Sunday evening, which finished with a reminder to parents that "NAPLAN testing starts May 14".

NAPLAN is not a competition. It is an annual test designed to take a snapshot of how students are tracking in key areas of literacy and numeracy

A Kids Smart ad placed on the website www.dunya.com.au also included the slogan "Key ingredients for NAPLAN results and a healthy future".

The National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) are annual numeracy and literacy tests for primary and high school students that were introduced in 2008.

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A spokesman for the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, which administers the tests, hit out at the ads as "opportunistic marketing" and said he was pleased they had been withdrawn.

"NAPLAN is not a competition. It is an annual test designed to take a snapshot of how students are tracking in key areas of literacy and numeracy," he said.

"Basic familiarisation with the format of NAPLAN is appropriate so students are comfortable when they sit the tests, but beyond that NAPLAN is not a test for which students can or should "cram".

Mary Buchan, marketing manager for the parent company which makes the supplements, PharmaCare, said there was evidence "long chain Omega-3 fatty acids, including DHA" could have benefits for "child behaviour and learning including reading and spelling" but did not cite particular studies.

Ms Buchan confirmed the ads had been withdrawn following "public feedback".

"We would like to assure you that we never meant to offend any group or individual, and as such, this morning we advised our advertising agency to remove this television commercial from air and we have been assured this will be done within 24 hours,” she said.

Further information is being sought from PharmaCare.

The adverts received criticism by some users on Facebook and Twitter. The official twitter account for Australian Doctor magazine tweeted "We must stop this. Natures Way ad exploiting parents by linking its fish oil product to Naplan results" last night.

Ken Harvey, Adjunct Associate Professor of Public Health at La Trobe University, said the adverts were "unethical".

Professor Harvey said that while it was true Australians did not eat enough fish, a change to diets was required, not supplements.

"There is also increasing evidence that Omega-3 fatty acid supplements do not provide the same health benefits as eating fish and other nutritious foods," he said.

Last year, consumer group Choice awarded a Shonky award to another Nature's Way Kids Smart product. Choice said that while the company's homeopathic "Natural Medicine" range aimed at children did not cause any physical harm, "the harm comes from it doing nothing for your children in the expensive and mistaken belief you're doing something".

The products were also referred to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) for investigation.